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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

I went to my parents' house (so weird to call it that when I used to call it "our" house when I was still single) several weeks ago. As I was browsing through my things in my bedroom, I stumbled upon this book:

I flipped to page 261 (I think) and found this:

Yes, today's Wednesday Nugget is by yours truly!

I was once in Chicken Soup for the Soul and I can still vividly remember how I screamed with delight when the authors emailed me the contract, asking for my permission to quote me from a short story I had written.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Life has a way of getting in the way of life. So much so that Hon-some and I had only gone on our October date on the first day of December! Hahaha!

The onset of December has brought in the holiday frenzy. We are trying to avoid the holiday rush by preparing our gifts early enough. In the midst of it all, we happened to find ourselves with some pocket of time for ourselves.

I am not a big fan of overpriced coffee so the date package I gifted my husband with for our first wedding anniversary was a good excuse to indulge.

Hello, Starbucks!

After devouring that peppermint brownie, I'm still not a fan. Sorry...McDo na tayo, Hon... :)

Monday, November 26, 2012

This is going to be my last post chronicling my past creative retreat. I spent the last few days of it preparing for a craft booth that I would be holding at a niece's 2nd birthday party.I had canvas tote bags made with silkscreened design for the children at the party to paint.Here are pictures of my booth...

The young ones (and evidently even the young-at-heart) engaged in a crafty endeavor!

With that, I am making this party craft booth gig official. If you're tired of the usual facepainting and party game booths at your child's party, Wicked Crafts puts a creative and crafty spin on events by providing tons of enjoyment through craft activities.Check Wicked Crafts out here (add WC as a friend!). Or drop me a line at wickedcrafts2012@gmail.comHappy party craftin'!

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Thank you for the nice feedback I received from last week's Wednesday Nugget. I'm happy people feel the same way about "boring" kids/people.Anyhoo, I have stumbled upon these lovely quotes and I just have to share them.

Monday, November 19, 2012

I'm delaying writing a post about the last day of my creative retreat until I have worked out the kinks on something related to it. In the meantime, I'm showing you something I made recently. I have been meeting with former colleagues (who are now school owners) for some business stuff. I contacted them to ask for help and they have been kind enough to say yes. I decided to make embellished clipboards as thank-you gifts.They're so easy to make!

I have some inexpensive clipboards I got from the bookstore. Wooden clipboards are best.

I took some scrapbook paper (don't use thin paper such as gift wrappers) and cut it to fit the clipboard. I used two kinds of scrapbook paper to fit the clipboard.

I then used a foam brush to spread Mod Podge on the clipboard and also at the back of the scrapbook paper.

Then I used a squeegee to smoothen the paper and to take out all the bubbles from the Mod Podge.

For the last step, I coated the entire clipboard with Mod Podge again. I used matte Mod Podge. Mod Podge is love!

After drying, I just tied a ribbon around the clipboard. Easy peasy, right?

Thursday, November 15, 2012

After weeks (or months?) of planning and studying, searching for resources and licenses, I took the plunge and signed up at Teachers Pay Teachers as a seller. The result of my retreat is this 28-page packet of dinosaur-themed literacy and math activities!

If you're a teacher like me who spends hours online finding activities or a homeschooling parent scouring for a good resource, this packet is helpful and convenient. Just print and use!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

As a teacher for almost a decade now, I strive to find ways to keep my preschool students engaged and busy, mixing fun and learning in the process. Therefore, it annoys me to no end to see - hear! - children who cry out "Boring!" or "I'm bored!" when they have nothing better to do. Nothing ruins my day more than being in the company of a kid who can't seem to be satisfied with anything while an adult racks his/her brain to get the little one out of the spell of boredom.

I get irritated by all this because, the bottom line is, parents - the world, in fact - do not owe the child any entertainment. Children who are bored are in fact boring. Super boring, actually, because they are uninteresting. And the only way for a child to be interesting is to be interested -- in something, in anything.

Whether it's doing art, curling up with a good book, even watching TV or playing video games (the last two options, I do not really espouse as constructive ways to keep interested), the child must learn to amuse himself/herself.Hon-some does not hide his disbelief when I tell him that when I do not have work and I stay at home while he's in the office, our television never gets turned on. But I never get bored. Because I have a lot of interesting things to do. I have a niece who whiles away time doodling on paper and making her own toys and actually skips nap time so she can do all the things that interest her. I have never seen her bored.Having said that, I wish parents would then expose their children to more activities to ignite their potential passions. Only then will we rid this world of boring individuals.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

During my creative retreat (you can read about Day 1 here), I visited this event:

It was my first time to attend a craft fair and I was really excited! Sooooo excited I forgot to take actual pictures of the event! :) So allow me to make up for that by showing the goodies I brought home so you may be enticed to visit the next craft fair (and believe, there are many!).These beauties came home with me...

I got these foam pencil toppers from Shin Digz Sari Crafts. They were lovely and make for great gifts!

I got these washi tapes from Hey Kessy. I swear, washi tapes are love!

I also got baker's twine from the same booth. I can use it for wrapping gifts.

From Earthly Jewels Beads, I got this resin-making kit. I bought some settings as well so I can use the resin in making jewelry. Note to self: find time to make these. :)

It was a fun day and there were so many stuff that I wanted to buy! It was also great to have had the chance to talk to fellow crafters to talk about their handmade lovelies. Can't wait for the next craft fair!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Aaaaaaaaannnd I'm back! In my last blog post, I shared that at the onset of my school's semestral break, I was to go on a creative retreat. While I did not exactly go somewhere, I used the weeklong break to be in solitude and engage in creative pursuits. This post is the first of several ones that will show the highlights of my creative retreat.

On the first day of my creative retreat, I headed to Pipino, a small and homey restaurant in Teacher's Village in Quezon City, that serves vegetarian fare. I am no vegan but people who know me well know well enough that I try to eat healthy as much as I can. I try to shun canned goods from our family menu (but I can't resist Virginia's corned beef! To my friends in Cebu, forget danggit or lechon, THIS is my kind of pasalubong!), I make my own tapa and tocino, I make lasagna noodles from scratch, etc. Knowing I cannot drag Hon-some to Pipino, I was only too happy to indulge in vegetarian cuisine on my own.Pipino has charming interiors. So charming you want to spend the entire day in the place. It was quiet and lovely.

I took a picture of the dessert menu simply because I loved the watercolor illustrations.

I ordered the Cilantro Soup which was perfect for that particular day because it was raining. The vegetables were soft and the broth was really tasty.

For my main course, I ordered the Stuffed Demi-Dried Tomatoes with brown rice, mushroom salpicao, and orange leek salad.

It was soooo good and surprisingly filling! It was visually appetizing and all the flavors from the mushroom salpicao, the tomatoes, and the oranges all meshed beautifully in my mouth.

While having my meal, I decided to do some work:

Creative work, that is. I listed down my goals for 2013. Never hurt to get started on it early.

I came up with about 23 goals and as a reward for a productive lunch, I indulged in the Choco Peanut Banana Cupcake. It was not too sweet, which was to my liking and as I took a bite, I thought of how healthy this sweet little thing was.

When my meal came to a close, I thought of how my creative retreat was off to a good start. Dining at Pipino (and doing some goal-setting) really set the tone of what I was to engage in for the rest of the week. Will share more stories next time. :)

Thursday, October 25, 2012

When October rolled in, this realization sank in: Oh no! Since I'm teaching again, I have to be in costume for Halloween! And so I trooped to my favorite fabric and craft stores and whipped up a super easy DIY costume.

I decided to go Egyptian because I already had a black dress so all I needed were the head dress, bib, and belt.

I bought gold fabric, did some measurements, and cut away!

I cut two pieces of this.

I put half an inch allowances around and sewed the two pieces together, right sides facing each other.

I folded the outer edge and made small stitches under it so make it look smooth and seamless.

Then I used hot glue to attach the jewel pieces on the bib.

The belt was easier to make. Measured my waist, sewed the edges, and glued on the jewels.

As for the head dress, I saw this in Landmark and snapped it up:

As for the complete costume...teehee...I forgot to take a picture! Hahaha! But you do get the idea, don't you?

Teehee, anyway, I shall be offline for a couple of days. Our semestral break in school has started and I'm planning to use the entire week to go on a creative retreat. Won't really be going away, though. Will just use my time to be creative. And to dream. A lot. :)

I think, therefore, I craft.

I'm a full-time preschool teacher and a part-time crafter. I love working with my hands and churning out gifts, treasures, and what-have-you's. I also love traveling to new places, eating - and I eat loads as a rule - reading, and shopping. Having said these, I started this blog to document my craft, travel, gastronomic, literary, and retail adventures. I hope you'll enjoy my craft and lifestyle blog.